Brendon Hartley described how he resisted a late attack from Marcus Ericsson to score the first point of his F1 career in Azerbaijan.
“I’m obviously really happy to get that point because even the last lap I had quite a lot of pressure,” said the Toro Rosso driver.
“I was told I was P10, I had Ericsson behind. Even though I had quite a big gap coming onto the back straight, he wasn’t so far, so I had to push pretty hard on the last lap to keep him behind and use all the tools available.“It was still a big fight to get that P10 so I’m happy I kept the composure, kept it together and brought home my first point. I think when I’m in this scenario again I’ll be more relaxed because I’ll know I’ve got at least one point on the board.”
However Hartley admitted he “felt like I was on the defensive the whole race – we really didn’t have the pace.”
“There was a lot of drama all around us. I kept it clean, I didn’t make any mistakes and I brought home one point. I’m happy for that but at the same time we really didn’t have the pace to be much further ahead.
Tenth is the team’s second-best result of the year after Pierre Gasly’s shock fourth place in the Bahrain Grand Prix, where Hartley failed to score. He admitted this had been a missed opportunity and the team’s loss of pace since then is a mystery.
“I wish I knew because the obvious question is why we were so quick in Bahrain. Pierre had the result, I also had the pace in Bahrain but obviously I didn’t get the result.
“At this moment I don’t have the answers and I think the team will continue trying to understand. It was only a few weeks ago.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2018 F1 season
- F1 feared “death knell” for Drive to Survive after Ferrari and Mercedes snub
- McLaren staff told us we were “totally crazy” to take Honda engines in 2018 – Tost
- ‘It doesn’t matter if we start last’: How Red Bull’s junior team aided Honda’s leap forward
- Honda’s jet division helped F1 engineers solve power unit problem
- McLaren Racing losses rise after Honda split
Garns (@)
5th May 2018, 12:28
Good on him! I know there a rumors that he is on the way out already, and some fans calling for it, but he had a few races last year and a few more so far this year. Give him some time and hopefully he can bring some more points home.
Gabriel (@rethla)
5th May 2018, 13:25
Unfortunately hes team that vaules performance so his F1 career will be short if hes not top notch even though hes better than a few drivers on the grid.
Forza Maldonado (@forzamaldonado)
6th May 2018, 0:36
Given that Red Bull has pretty much exhausted their junior talent for the time being, I can’t really see Hartley losing his seat during the season, but I doubt he’ll have a seat for 2019. We all know Toro Rosso is pretty cutthroat when it comes to expectations for the drivers (see: Daniil Kvyat), so unless he starts scoring points consistently, I doubt he’ll stick around. I wouldn’t be shocked if he gets replaced by that Fukuzumi kid who’s been running in F2, especially if Red Bull switches to Honda for 2019.
Gabriel (@rethla)
5th May 2018, 13:25
hes in a team*
Jere (@jerejj)
5th May 2018, 18:05
“At this moment I don’t have the answers and I think the team will continue trying to understand. It was only a few weeks ago.” – A month ago to be a bit more precise.